Chapter 3 - The Spread of Buddhism to China and its Sinicization

Summary

This chapter traces the cultural contact between the Chinese and Indian civilizations and the impact of Buddhism on Chinese culture from the Han to the Tang dynasties (206 BC – AD 907), with special reference to the spread of Buddhism to China via the Silk Route and its development and process of Sinicization.

ORIGIN OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION

India in the South Indian sub-continent is the land of another ancient civilization which originated from the Ganges Basin. The ancient civilization of Indus, known as the city-based Harappa Culture, began between 3,000– 1,550 BC and developed in the valley of the Indus River, with two urban centres, Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The sophisticated urban planning of the Harappa people suggests that a single centralized state might have been in existence then (Basham 1959, pp. 14–15; Thapar 1966, p. 29). The people worshipped the symbols of fertility such as the Mother Goddess, the bull, sacred tress and others and this practice has continued in Hinduism (Thapar 1966, p. 43). The Indus Valley civilization declined in the second millennium BC and almost vanished by 1,500 BC when the nomadic, Aryans invaded the northwest of India. The cattle-breeding people finally took up agriculture. Agriculture led to trade. A primitive administrative system evolved. The tribal kingdom controlled by the king consisted of tribes, tribal units and villages, with the eldest male member as village head. The nucleus was the family. The king was assisted by a court of the elders of the tribe and by the village headmen.

When the Aryans entered India there was already a class division (caste) in the tribal social structure. There were three social classes: the warriors or aristocracy, the priests and the common people. There was no consciousness of caste yet. The three social divisions merely facilitated social and economic organization. It became a strict caste system when the Aryans discriminated against the people of Dasas who appeared to be darker. The colour element of caste was stressed and eventually the caste system became deep-rooted in India.